If you do Parkour, you hate the Stutter Step. It's this weird shuffle that instantly makes your movement look bad.
The stutter step happens, because we have a favorite takeoff leg. And if that takeoff leg doesn't end up where we want it to be, we resort to a shuffle step to re-arrange our steps.
Why do we want to avoid this?
To create movement that looks easy and effortless, every step has to look intentional and land in the right place. Think about it like movement minimalism. As soon as one move is not where it's supposed to be, it will stick out like a sore thumb.
I see most people try to fix this problem by counting and planning out every step of their run. This helps a little bit, but is inconsistent at best.
Apart from that, I always had the goal to be someone who can move beautifully without much preparation or rehearsal time. If you are somebody who'd like to be able to flow through a run first try, I have 5 tips for you!
COMMON MISTAKE #1 - THE USAIN BOLT
Most people's run-up is too long and too fast. There's no reason to perform a 100m sprint before a simple vault. It's actually quite rare to need to go full speed in Parkour.
All you'll end up doing is put on the breaks at the end.
DO THIS INSTEAD:
Practice keeping your run-up as short and relaxed as possible. This economy of movement will make your flow look more beautiful, because every bit of energy you create is put to use.
And as a bonus you will be prepared for any challenge with a less than ideal run-up ;)
COMMON MISTAKE #2 - ACCELERATION
Of course, sometimes you do need to go fast. The wrong way to go about it is to go fast right from the beginning of your run up (as you would do for a 100m sprint). There's no point for you to generate a lot of speed and then need to keep it up for the entirety of the run up. Speed doesn't equal flow :)
INSTEAD I found it much easier to start my run-up with a slow jog and then use ONLY the last 3 steps before of my run up to generate top speed. It feels like an explosion right at the end.
TIP #3 - WHY NOT BOTH?
Being ambidextrous means being able to do something equally well with your left and your right hand.
And of course it would be nice to be perfectly balanced and feel comfortable with all our moves no matter which side of our body we perform them on. Then we would never need to worry about taking off from the wrong leg.
However, no matter how hard we try, one side will feel more natural and in control than the other. Does this mean it's not worth practicing a move on your bad side?
No way José! Especially being able to wallrun and running jump from both of your legs reasonably well is going to improve your ability to spontaneously flow by a lot! These moves come up often and if you mess them up, they can ruin the whole run.
(and if you have time left in the day learn to roll on both sides for improved safety)
TIP #4 - FIND THE KEY
Alright, I lied to you at the start of this article. To be honest not EVERY step needs to be exactly where it's supposed to be.
Most of the time the exact foot placement is not that important. Your body has the ability to naturally adjust the length of your steps and will get you where you need to be.
It's more about getting started on the right foot. Most runs have one to three key steps that need to be precise and those then magically align the rest of your movement.
So whenever you're planning a complicated or long run:
Don't try to worry about every step. Instead ask yourself, which steps are the key to unlock this challenge?
TIP #5 - THE DUBSTEP
Saving the best for the last. Skipping a step will allow you to change your order of steps mid run up, doesn't break your flow and can actually look stylish.
Of course, it's not the ideal run up, but sometimes good enough is..... well.... good enough :)
